Case Study: From Convention Center to Mixed-use Property in DC

CityCenterDC in the nation’s capital is about a decade old, and the Conrad Hilton Hotel, the centerpiece of phase two, is set to launch in early 2019. The project was the focus of the National Retail Federation’s Retail Gets Real podcast. Executives from real estate developer Hines discussed how CityCenterDC is more than a traditional shopping mall. It offers a “dynamic experience” for large-scale events such as a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony similar to what’s held annually at New York City’s Rockefeller Center. “My advice is to not overthink things. At the heart of it, we’re all consumers. What makes your shopping experience different? Answering these questions can help developers arrive at the right solutions,” said Whitney Burns, senior manager of corporate communications at Hines.

Amazon’s New Groove: Opening a Bookstore in NYC

Web retail giant Amazon.com has opened a new retail storefront in New York City’s Columbus Circle. It was noted with some irony in a recent New York Post article that the company that helped put bookstores out of business has come around and is now itself opening bookstores. The store simultaneously fulfills immediate purchasing satisfaction, but also serves as “a promotional opportunity for Amazon, which encourages shoppers to join Amazon Prime in order to get the best prices on books and free two-day shipping” (retailers with websites, take note). New York Post writer Jonathon Trugman called it “bricks to clicks and back to bricks, all in the name of market share” and sarcastically asked, “What’s next, Apple selling 8-track tapes and vinyl records?” To borrow a phrase from another Post writer, “Only in New York, kids, Only in New York.”

DMM: ShoppingCenters.com’s RealSite™ Trade Areas

If you haven’t had the chance to check out our mobile device data-driven, RealSite™ Trade Areas dataset for analyzing property boundaries and proximity studies, now’s the time! RealSite™, developed in partnership with UberRetail’s mobile location data and the geospatial expertise of B.I. Spatial, is our analysis and retail consumer activity-tracking product. With it, we can identify patronage patterns, determine likely residential locations, create polygon trade areas representing actual visitors to the center and analyze top consumer segmentation profiles. For more information, click here.